Afghan girls throw punches, aim for Olympic gold

'It was my dream to become a boxer'

Teenage Afghan sisters Shabnam and Sadaf Rahimi are taking the fight for women's rights more literally than most of their peers, throwing punches in a ring as members of their country's first team of female boxers.

They practice inside a spartan gym with broken mirrors, flaking paint, four punching bags, and a concrete floor padded with faded pink and green mats. Some girls wear face masks to keep away the dust coming up from the floor.

"It was my dream to become a boxer. At first my father did not agree with me. He said girls should not be boxing," 18 year-old Sadaf said, out of breath from punching the bag. "After I got my first medal, he changed his mind."

Image: Sadaf Rahimi lifts weights during a practice session in a boxing club in KabulPhotographs: Reuters

'Sometimes when I exercise alone inside the stadium I panic'

Female boxing is still relatively unusual in most countries, but especially in Afghanistan, where many girls and women still face a struggle to secure an education or work, and activists say violence and abuse at home is common.

Three times a week, the girls come to practise at the Ghazi stadium, once used for public punishment by the Taliban, the hardline Islamists who ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.

Women were stoned for adultery there and despite an expensive revamp, its gory past sometimes spooks the athletes.

"My family fled to Iran during the Taliban...but I heard that women used to be killed here and sometimes when I exercise alone inside the stadium I panic," Sadaf said.

Image: An Afghan woman practises inside a boxing club in KabulPhotographs: Reuters

'My dream is to raise the Afghan flag for my country'

No Afghan woman has ever won a medal at the Olympic games, but taekwondo fighter Rohullah Nikpai may have paved the way by taking a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, becoming a national hero in the process.

The Rahimi sisters are aiming at the same podium. Shabnam won her first gold medal at an international competition in Tajikistan this year, where her younger sister also took silver.

"I want to become a good boxer so that I can bring more pride to my country. My dream is to raise the Afghan flag for my country," Shabnam said.